the adventures of choosing teaching as a career

January 17, 2007

Right before Christmas break I gave out email accounts to all my students. I knew that using the tool would be beneficial for the students. They really enjoyed the freedom to have their own account. It allows for the easy, safe transfer of documents from home to school. Overall I had an idea of the benefits that this tool may offer my students.

We are almost a month into it and all that I expected has come to be. But, today I realized the wonderful extra benefit. After I played (and lost) two volleyball games tonight I pulled up my school email account to see several messages. Most of them appeared to be questions about the project we are working on... love that they are going home to work on their own! But there were two messages from kids thanking me for teaching them... I worked really hard this weekend to pull together a meaningful project, it took a ton of my time, but after getting those emails I knew how well spent the time was. I love my job, and not in a 'PollyAnnaish' kind of way, but in the 'I've been doing this for ten years' kind of way, and there's no place I'd rather be working than in a classroom. It's just too good.

January 11, 2007

I re-watched Hotel Rwanda sorting through clips that would be appropriate to show to a middle school classroom. I thought that I would never watch the movie again after I had seen it the first time. There are things that I only need or want to see once. This was one of those movies. But, now I sit with the opportunity to tell the story... to an audience that is completely out of the loop... my students. Watching the movie again was necessary to bring another form of information to them to learn from, to see, to understand. It has been a long day and I am thinking that tomorrow will be as well.

But here's the thing, the story can be told in such a compelling way today. On the blog circuit I read Tell Me Your Story; Stir My Heart and What’s in a Story? today. These two posts get at the crux of what I am trying to do with the story of the Rwandan genocide. The big idea about telling a story with conviction and passion came through loud and clear. The story I tell to the students this week is a heavy story, one that both shatters and inspires, uplifts and ashames, horrifies and amazes. The great thing about teaching history is that the whole subject is one long story. But the perplexing part is in what story is told, how the story is told and with what passion the story is told.

The story of the Rwandan genocide can be brought to life for the students in my classroom with the resources at our fingertips. We listen to interviews with the UN generals that were on the ground, with survivors of the genocide, with officials that were part of the world governments at the time. We stream in videos that play the story of the Hutus and the Tutsis, show the violence of the time and report the events that occur as a part of this devastating chapter from history. We watch with horror as the flash based timeline rolls though events and death tolls. We closely watch the news to see what is happening in Darfur and Somalia as both have connections to the Rwandan story. The story is powerful in the written word, becomes vivid with the audio, transforms to mezmerizing with video... the kids get this in a way that I cannot 'tell' the story of 200 years ago. The capability to bring this digital information to the students revolutionizes the way I teach, transforms the way they learn and transcends any bubble test the 'powers that be' come up with.

Using this story of courage, hope and integrity as a model the students soon begin telling the story of someone else who has used their life, like Paul Rusesabagina used his life... and the students will also include the story of how they plan to use their own life to positively impact the lives around them. There is a quote from Think:Lab today that sums it up to a tee

If you can tell a story, you have an audience. If you tell a great story, you have a great audience. If you invite others to create that story with you, you have something far deeper.

Starting on Monday the students will begin to tell their stories and I look forward to the challenge that this will bring for all of us.

January 08, 2007

A few months ago I received an email with an open invitation to students from Flagstaff to attend an event where Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager that shielded 1200+ Rwandans from slaughter in 1994, would be speaking. The event was free, the venue was close enough to walk to and after a small amount of investigation I decided to sign up my 135 students. It was not often that we get internationally known speakers, for free, in this mountain town.

While I was making the decision, it became abundantly clear that I couldn't take these students to hear from this man without a serious amount of preparation. Genocide is not a topic that one introduces to students lightly. I struggled with the decision to focus on such a grim topic, not that war is not grim and history is not grim, but genocide, for some reason is different. The Rwandan genocide was recent, there were vivid images, the stories live on being told by the people who survived. It is very real, almost too real. I ran my decision past a few of my sounding boards to see if I was being overly sensitive, or if I should rethink genocide as a topic of study for a few weeks in January. Most people agreed that, yes, it was grim... but that doesn't make it unworthy of study. I decided that the focus of the unit would be on the power of one... one person, one idea, one moment, one decision. After learning about Mr. Rusesabagina and the story of the Rwandan genocide, the students would choose one person who uses/used their life to positively impact the lives of other, tell the story and then at the end tell the story of how they plan on using their own life to positively impact the lives of others. The goal is to have each student make a short 3-5 minute movie.

Then, I received a call from the organizers of the event, the Martin-Springer Institute. They were calling to let me know that I could choose one student to attend. One, one student out of 135. This was not going to be easy. So I decided to turn the whole thing into a competition to earn the privilege to go to lunch. Each class will view another classes videos, vote for the top video... those five will be viewed by a panel of five impartial judges (a college professor, a PhD. candidate, a MS science teacher on sabbatical ;), a community college instructor and a web entrepreneur). These five would choose the top individual who would then be chosen to go to lunch at a very swank location in town with Mr. Rusesabagina.

We are on day three of genocide and the students still can't believe the stories and realities that the people of Rwanda faced in 1994. As a related tangent, we have been looking briefly at Darfur and noticing the similarities and differences in the world response. Most students didn't really realize that genocide happened anywhere outside the Holocaust. This has been an incredibly emotional topic. I am a little concerned that this is a little much. But, I fear that if they don't hear the stories and grapple with the issues that they will grow up ignorant of the situations that happen on the global scene. Also, I want the experience to focus on the extraordinary actions of 'ordinary' people that step up in times of need. I want them to ponder for a bit what role they may play to help out their local community or more.

The phrase 'never again' is used time and again to describe the world committment to not allowing another genocide to take place. Well, it's been never again over and over again. It is a story with extreme historical relevance and tangible connection to the students in my classes. By studying the story and hearing, first hand, from a man who lived through a genocide, I hope that the students may remember, may get it, may hold onto the story and act, think, feel something, as a result.

This is a new topic for me, and unchartered territory... I have faith that this will be a meaningful story to tell and path to take with the students, but we are only on day three... anyone have any suggestions? other ideas? thoughts on teaching about genocide to middle schoolers?

January 07, 2007

5 things…. I was tagged with the 5 things meme awhile ago by Christian Long… and was busy…. ok, I wasn’t that busy, but for whatever reason I did not sit down and write, right then.It’s strange because I generally don’t have trouble with words, but I have been struggling with what to write.So here goes…

Farm girl… born into a longstanding farm family, work was no stranger to my daily routine.Being raised on a farm truly impacts the course of life through a crash course in work ethic, problem solving and perseverance.Although I cursed it while I was living it, the life my parents provided me with has shaped the person I am today.I feel as though I know what work is, and the job I choose to go to everyday is not work, but a choice.I love that I get to choose and day after day for ten years I have chosen to go to school ready to work with the next crew of high energy, entertaining and challenging teens.

Seven years ago I moved to Flagstaff, Arizona and realized that there are truly breathtaking places on earth and I get to live in one of them.Life at 7000 feet is amazing.Being an hour from the Grand Canyon, 30 minutes to the red rocks of Sedona and a stone’s throw from more national forest than I can quite wrap my brain around is so very good.

I went camping for the first time when I was just 13 years old.My Science teacher thought that it was a travesty that all these farm kids he taught never went into the great outdoors.So, the week after school dismissed in 1987, Steve Severson packed some vans full of food, gear and a crew of awkward middle schoolers.That trip repeated itself for 6 years, each year with a slightly different crew and location.I didn’t make it every year, but when I spent the week after graduation in the PorcupineMountains of the Upper Peninsula, I knew that my life would embrace the ‘crunchier’ side of life.What I don’t think that Severson (the teacher) realizes is that he impacted the outcome of all three kids in my family.In different ways, that make sense only when you know kids like my teachers got to know kids, Severson guided us towards those paths that would lead us to the lives we lead today (we had the same set of teachers every other year from 7-12 grade… small school to say the least). He is an amazing teacher that realized content was only part of the job that he was hired to do.

Everyone should be a camp counselor at some point in their life.On a whim I applied to a summer camp after my ‘first’ senior year of college.For the next two summers I lived amongst chaos, community and creativity.The dynamic of camp is one that can only be understood by other adults that chose to spend a portion of their adulthood playing like a kid again.

I am a storyteller, from a family of storytellers.When I travel back to Wisconsin I am reminded of the place that shapes me, comforts me and binds me to a story that is still writing itself.My dad, Ray, is one of the best storytellers that I know, telling a series of tales called, “Sad, but true”, from a life on road construction.Each time I am home, the stories get funnier and more engaging.He is a talented man. I still have much to learn from him.

So that rounds out the five things… my life has been a series of lucky, touching, inspiring, profound, hilarious and sobering experiences that leave me looking forward to what comes next.Dream big.

December 17, 2006

I have been reading blogs for over a year now.. not very long, but long enough to have a profound affect on the conversation that I am having regarding my teaching and learning. And, since I was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year (I am in good company b/c we are all Person of the Year this year) this year, I figured today was as good a day as any to start my own conversation.

So here is what I would like to start with and it is one that is personal to me and my particular teaching situation. Our local paper has recently taken up the cause of defining "What's the matter with middle school?". Now, there are many challenges at school, no more or less than when I taught high school, it's just different. The main focus of the article was related to the competition generated by the local charter schools and why so many kids of middle school age are clamoring to get into charters rather than the public middle schools, one of the public schools being where I teach. The article included such lines as

Other parents of seventh and eighth-graders say they are worried about safety and academic rigor in the two main Flagstaff Unified School District middle schools. The result has been a drop of nearly 200 students this year at those schools, or close to 12 percent.

Meanwhile, enrollment in charter and private middle schools in Flagstaff continues to surge to more than 400 this year.

And the vast majority of the students attending charter and private middle schools are from white, middle- to upper-middle-class neighborhood schools.

Now, I like small schools and I even like the idea of charter schools. But, in our community the charters have become an excuse for segregating kids. Our community chooses to segregate their kids into schools based on affluence and try to pawn it off on school choice. The charters in our area do not provide busing or lunch. Taking away access to busing and free/reduced lunch inherently limits the type of child that attends.

To make matters even more ridiculous, the editorial staff of the paper followed the original feature story with the lead on the opinion page. Let's just say it didn't exactly improve upon the first story.

...the standards and the choices have changed. Parents don't want their children to have to endure two years that they remember as difficult. The local charters and private schools, which are smaller and more homogenous, are seen as safe ports in a storm. Given the choice of postponing the bigness, diversity and conflicting choices that come with high school, more than 400 local parents are taking it.

charter students are there by choice, whereas public schools must take the unmotivated, the unruly and the unprepared. Given those handicaps, it's a wonder that test scores in FUSD middle schools still top the state average by a considerable margin.

One of my students took particular offense to the unmotivated, the unruly and the unprepared comment.

In attempting a response to the paper, I was at a loss becausewhat strikes me is that they miss the picture by so far that I don't even know where to start, it's like we are speaking different languages. These are kids... KIDS... not lepers or aliens... a community that invests in these kids will get their return back in spades. Our community does not choose to invest... they choose segregation over the more difficult task of integrating a community of learners. This community is getting what they want, segregated schools with the illusion that cleaner/safer is less danger to their kids. We need something to fear and right now that is the big bad middle school. The community chooses to see the middle schools as bad because it makes them comfortable in their decision to send their kids to 'white flight' schools. We need to look at the larger societal problems that feed fear and ignorance when it comes to our middle schools. We need to try and get the community to embrace these kids as part of the community rather than THOSE kids, problem kids... Where are the after school programs for middle schoolers, where are affordable activities for middle schoolers, where are the volunteers that are dying to be a part of the elementary school, but fall away in the middle grades?

How does a person move a diverse community towards embracing all the kids, rather than choosing a 'homogenous' school setting and further exacerbating the societal problems that cause the fear in the first place? My answer is by working in the public middle school, providing a safe environment for a community of diverse learners and engaging them in a dialougue about community issues, including race and ethnicity. Because in the end, it will be up to the kids sitting in those desks to address the problems that we create today. Hopefully, they will do better.